Xenophon’s Socrates on concern for friends

“Memorabilia” II 6

Abstract

In Xenophon’s Socratic literature, there is repeated emphasis on the utility the friends provide one another. One extended passage, Memorabilia II 6, shows that Socrates takes a good person to care about a friend both for the benefits to be gained for oneself and for the other’s welfare. Genuine friendship, for Socrates, is not transactional or self-interested but rather rooted in the mutual benefit that only good people can supply.